Gov. Ralph Northam took time during his latest broadband announcement on Dec. 13 in Goochland County, Va., to honor Gary Wood, president and CEO of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and Firefly Fiber Broadband.
With U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, as well as U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, looking on, Northam presented a framed proclamation to Wood, citing his consistent commitment and leadership to his community. He mentioned Wood’s longtime leadership at CVEC, as well as his previous roles on the Nelson County School Board and Nelson County Board of Supervisors.
“Whereas, bold and transformative leadership is always necessary to undertaking the creation of any new enterprise and, whereas, CVEC created a broadband subsidiary, Firefly, to provide an essential service to central Virginians within and beyond their electric service footprint and, whereas, Firefly has already connected more than 10,000 Virginia homes and businesses, with tens of thousands of more Virginians to receive high quality broadband connections in the coming years. Whereas, none of these accomplishments could have occurred under leadership less visionary; and now, therefore I, Ralph S. Northam, do hereby recognize Gary Wood and his dedicated service to the Commonwealth of Virginia and I call this service to the attention of all of our citizens,” read a portion of Gov. Northam’s proclamation.
Brian Mosier, president and CEO of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, said, “It was great seeing the cooperatives recognized by our elected officials and local media for stepping up to bring broadband service to the rural areas. Whether that is running middle-mile fiber or bringing it directly to the end user. CVEC under Gary’s leadership has led the way in broadband deployment and has exemplified the cooperative’s commitment to rural communities.”
Congratulations, Gary Wood, on a well-deserved honor!
(Above Photo: From left, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam describes the public service noted in the resolution he presented Dec. 13 to Gary Wood of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. Photo by Eugene Campbell)